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RAMALLAH, West Bank, Feb 18 (Reuters) - The Palestinian parliament will be sworn in on Saturday with Hamas as its majority bloc, paving the way for the Islamist group to form a cabinet despite calls by major world powers to boycott it.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will ask Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, to ensure its government recognise interim peace negotiations with Israel and aim to halt violence, Palestinian officials said.

However, Abbas's parliament speech will not explicitly insist on such measures as a condition for forming a cabinet, a top Palestinian official said.

"But he will clearly tell Hamas he expects its government to pursue the policies of the previous governments, that it must respect the Authority's signed agreements with Israel and pursue peaceful means to resist occupation," the official told Reuters.

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